When you grow up in an abusive situation, your mind learns things that are very hard to unlearn. Yes, it’s a form of PTSD, and it can throw you for a loop: I still avoid many things that remind me of her; I still flinch sometimes when people raise a hand near me — a…
The folks over at Psych Central have another book review up that I think might be of interest to abuse survivors, many of whom may see a bit of themselves in this: If you told most people that after a traumatic event, they could feel stronger, more open to new experiences, more appreciative of life, a deepened…
“Searching for the right therapist is sort of like dating.” This is somewhat true. I’ve talked to a lot of survivors who gave up on the idea of therapy after one date. I hope they will go read this article, though I do have one small disagreement. I don’t believe there is necessarily “the one”…
Like Natasha, I rarely ever use “trigger warnings” on this site. That’s because, frankly, it’s a site about surviving child abuse and mental illness. Just the title should be considered a trigger warning. But also, because while I try to balance things out with positive messages for anyone who comes to the site, sometimes there…
This is something I wish we could understand about child abuse survivors: I am finally forgiving myself for the things that I did to survive. Those things that seemed foolish or harmful from the cheap seats. Those things that seemed self destructive and counter-intuitive from the outside. Many of them were, honestly, but I’m…
Unfortunately, I think too many survivors seem to think this way: You will hear many phrases about healing. ‘When I heal’ etc. The idea of this is to give us hope. Hope that one day we will be cured and have no suffering. At the time of our darkest hour, thoughts of healing may help…
